It’s advantage AAP, but repeating Punjab poll feat an uphill task

With the opposition focusing on the murder of Sidhu Moose Wala, the AAP wave that surged on the ‘badlav’ promise has ebbed

PATIALA: In the Sangrur Lok Sabha bypoll, which is taking place barely three months after the Punjab election results, the ruling Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) might be enjoying an edge over its rivals, but repeating the assembly poll-like performance will be an uphill task.

In the 2022 assembly polls, the AAP not only won all nine assembly segments under the Sangrur Lok Sabha seat, but also registered a record 3,74,299 combined lead from these segments. In the assembly segments of Sunam, Dhuri and Dirba, the party’s victory margin was above 50,000 votes. In Sunam, Aman Arora won by 75,277 votes, a record in the state. Chief minister (CM) Bhagwant Mann and his second-in-command Harpal Singh Cheema were the two others who won by more than 50,000 votes.

The surge of the AAP wave can be gauged from the fact that even sitting CM Charanjit Singh Channi lost against a political novice, Labh Singh, from Bhadaur seat.

In the 2019 general elections, Sangrur was the only seat to send an AAP candidate — Bhagwant Mann — to the Lok Sabha from across India. In 2014, Mann was among four AAP candidates who won from Punjab.

However, with the opposition parties focusing on the recent criminal activities, especially the murder of singer-politician Sidhu Moose Wala, the AAP wave that surged on the promise of “badlav” (change) has taken a hit.

“Sangrur is a place that resonates with political change. When the AAP failed to win any seat across India, Bhagwant Mann won from here in 2019. In the 2022 polls, public voted for the AAP for ‘badlav’ as the district was the epicentre of agitation against agricultural laws. But now, the things have changed. We are facing the heat after Moose Wala’s murder,” admitted an AAP leader, requesting anonymity. He, however, added that the party was confident of winning the bypoll with a record margin, “as the opposition is divided”.

AAP’s Punjab in-charge Jarnail Singh said the party has given the ticket to a grassroots worker, Gurmail Singh, and this has filled the workers with enthusiasm. “CM Bhagwant Mann has a charisma to upscale the campaign. He will begin canvassing in the constituency from next week,” he said.

Ashutosh Kumar, political scientist at Panjab University, said overall, the AAP did a good job in the past three months and will sail through, “but don’t expect the same margin” as seen in the assembly polls. “In the state elections, it was not an AAP wave, but an anti-establishment wave, in which people voted against the SAD, BJP and Congress. It was not a vote for AAP but for a ‘badlav’ from traditional parties,” he said.